I want your kitchen tricks I will share some of mine

[stopbeeping]

I am looking for tips for things you didn't do until recently that changed your cooking

Some of my faves atm are

II microwave small potatoes that I've hassle backed for about 10 mins then I put them into a baking tray with oil and seasoning of my choice, I paint them with a silicone brush it really gets in there it's changed our potato love in this house and then into oven for around 40 mins it's like having par boiled potato but less mess before roasting, can also squash them when cooked in microwave instead of cutting them into a hassle back

Also I make fajitas but now I put them into a baking dish put some salsa and cheese and herbs into them kind of in a taco shape with all the fillings into each one and then I put that in the oven for about 15 mins and it's so so much tastier then normal fajitas, also stops my kids from making such a mess!

Any tricks I can steal?

I make my toasted cheese sandwiches in a frying pan and following a tip on here I now use mayo on the outside, lovely crispy coating, mealty cheese. Perfect. It would probably work in a toasty maker too.

Melty cheese!

Baking tip - if making a standard sponge cake, weigh your eggs! Then match this weight for your butter, sugar and flour. Also double sifting the flour doesn’t take much longer but makes a huge difference to the lightness of the sponge (and a third sifting is even better!)

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@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie 😂lolz

I do cheesy pitas for a hot breakfast. Don't cut the pita pocket too much, pop the cheese in the night before, and then pop the whole thing in the toaster in the morning and voila. ( just make sure the hole is facing up). My mum thought this very dangerous but I've done it for years.

Another top tip with opening new jars, just tap the jar lid against the wall, the air tight seal breaks and it is really easy to open.

Also drain tinned tomatoes using a seive when making tomato based.sauces, as the juice make them much more acidic

Love these. Mine is after roasting chicken and picking off all the extra bits from the carcass, Chuck the carcass in the slow cooker overnight with some water to make stock. Drain it through a colander next day. Usually whatever seasoning I’ve used on the chicken is enough to flavour the stock. Also any extra bits of extra soft chicken that fall off after slow cooking are great fully received by the cat

An Italian chef told me to add a teaspoon of sugar to tomato sauces.

@Mamaneedsadrink I freeze nearly everything too. My best tip is to freeze in small portions because they can be defrosted quickly.
If you lay out what you want to freeze (sliced veg, rashers, slices of cake) on a baking tray lined with parchment, you can bag or box them up once frozen and they don’t stick together.
I always keep a box of macarons for an unexpected guests. I put them on a plate and they’re defrosted by the time the kettle boils for the tea.

That is correct. The sugar balances the acidity in the sauce.

A few years back someone dedicated a whole thread on here to making cheese sauce in the microwave. CHANGED LOADS OF LIVES! 😂
So much easier and I’ll never go back to the stove!

I've only ever made cheese sauce in the microwave. It's how my mum taught me to do it.

Need the link to this thread please!

Great tips on here. Why in the name of the wee man didnt I think of microwaving swede to make it easier to chop?

I love cottage pie but find making it to be such a faff and so many pots used!

Make your mince base as normal, instead of making mash, defrost a bag of hash browns, squash them up and sprinkle over the top of the mince mixture. More taste than mash and so quick and easy! I’ll never make cottage pie with mash again!

I do similar, roast the chicken in the slow cooker, take out and eat - get rid of the 'water' that has come out during cooking, the next day carcass back in the sc with water for a few hours.

Drain the stock and put back in the SC to make French onion soup.

When I make shepherds pie or fish pie, I lay the frozen pellets of mash directly on top and bake in the oven as normal. I never ever make mash

Sometimes I just buy the little single serve bottles for this reason if I’m not in the mood to drink.

Ditto.

Otherwise, I just keep a big bottle on the go for months tbh.

To cook jacket potatoes in the oven prick them all over with a skewer. Then either poke a small metal skewer through each one, or poke a long metal skewer through two or three spuds. The hot metal speeds up the cooking process as well as making the spuds easy to turn. No need for tinfoil.

When I make a stew I crumble an Oxo cube or 2 up and put it in the Atora dumplings mixture. Delicious.

If I end with half a bag of carrots and celery threatening to be unused after a weekend ,( as I often seem to ) I make big batches of soffritto base mix using grated carrot, finely chopped celery and onion cook slowly in olive oil then cool it, put into zipped freezer bags and freeze in thin sheets. Then when I want a base for Bolognese, shepherds pie or any soup, casserole or curry , I just break off some and add it to the pan after browning the meat.. .. I often do this just before we go on holiday so as not to throw unused veg away and sometimes add grated courgette and finely diced peppers if there are any lying around..

I also tried the mayonnaise trick when I made oven baked turkey schnitzel this weekend.. Brilliant! I wont be going back to the egg and flour method.. I added the garlic and lemon juice to the mayo.. and paprika and herbs to the breadcrumbs .

If making something which has a lot of spices and dried ingredients measure out a few portions in plastic containers and write on the lid what other ingredients are needed. When you fancy something but can't be arsed with the fuss half the job is done. You could also soften onions and freeze until needed.

To get more juice from lemons or limes (especially limes which can be rock hard) microwave them on 'high' for about 10 seconds. Repeat in short bursts if necessary, especially if they've just come out of the fridge.
Alternatively before squeezing any citrus fruit try rolling them firmly back and forth on the kitchen counter to make them juicier.